Reversing a Grave Injustice

Madonna White and Aaron Schultz plant American flags near each cleaned headstone.

- Andy Simmons

TIME HAS NOT been kind to the gravesites of veterans in Iowa City, lowa. Many of the headstones are weathered and covered in dirt and lichen. Others have sunk into the ground. The graves had been neglected, ignored. Not a fitting tribute to those who fought in America’s battles, ranging from the Civil War to more recent conflicts. Aaron Schultz, 19, first noticed their tattered state while visiting the grave of a neighbor in 2021.